Thursday, August 4, 2016

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf8Mzu6LbxA
On July 16th, directly following the Tenderloin Museum's One Year Anniversary celebration, I interviewed trans pioneer and artist Donna Personna (she was in SF during Compton Cafeteria Riots) about San Francisco city's unbelievable whitewashing of Compton Cafeteria Riot's legacy.
During the recent post-Trans March ceremony on June 24, 2016 the city renamed the intersection of Turk and Taylor 'Gene Compton Cafeteria Way' instead of 'Compton Cafeteria Riots Way' as Donna and others voted on, and what the community assumed it was being renamed as. So not only has 'Riots' been whitewashed out, the name of an accomplice of police brutality has been snuck in. Gene Compton, the cafeteria owner who conspired with the violent law enforcement, should not be honored, the people's resistance against transphobia, homophobia and racist and sexist state violence should be.
#DropTheGene #DropTheG #DropPoliceBrutality

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf8Mzu6LbxA
On July 16th, directly following the Tenderloin Museum's One Year Anniversary celebration, I interviewed trans pioneer and artist Donna Personna (she was in SF during Compton Cafeteria Riots) about San Francisco city's unbelievable whitewashing of Compton Cafeteria Riot's legacy.
During the recent post-Trans March ceremony on June 24, 2016 the city renamed the intersection of Turk and Taylor 'Gene Compton Cafeteria Way' instead of 'Compton Cafeteria Riots Way' as Donna and others voted on, and what the community assumed it was being renamed as.So not only has 'Riots' been whitewashed out, the name of an accomplice of police brutality has been snuck in. Gene Compton, the cafeteria owner who conspired with the violent law enforcement, should not be honored, the people's resistance against transphobia, homophobia and racist and sexist state violence should be.
#DropTheGene #DropTheG #DropPoliceBrutality

Saturday, December 12, 2015

BREAKING: wtf? (Though not surprised). LGB New Yorkers get
gay marriage perks and now they want to close down ESPA? What about GENDA, the
bill to give trans* New Yorkers anti-discrimination rights - it has yet to be
passed. Yes, I was there when the Governor said a few words about trans*
rights, but he never actually said 'GENDA'. Sigh. And people wonder why
non-token trans toms have little to no faith in white Gay, Inc.
"handling" our affairs. It's time we as trans* New Yorkers take a
stand for ourselves and stop letting LGB Non-Profit Inc manhandle and
misrepresent our movement

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Nov. 20th is
the annual Trans Day of Remembrance where we honor the lives of transsexual and
transgender women and men who lost their lives due to male violence,
transphobic bigotry, state violence/police brutality and/or domestic violence,
most of whom are trans women of color.

In a
flagrant disregard for this sacred memorial, the LAPD has announced a
distasteful public relations campaign where they plan to dishonorably co-opt our
community’s annual ritual into the corrupt law enforcement establishment by
unbelievably manufacturing a “LAPD Hosts the Transgender Walk of Remembrance”
stunt to be carried out on November 19th.

Needless to say the majority of L.A. trans
leaders, anti-police brutality activists and social justice advocates are
rightfully appalled. More importantly, people who have had trans family members
and close friends tragically murdered are deeply offended or even traumatized
that for what is in essence a ‘funeral’ is being inappropriately used as a PR
gimmick by the marketing department of the LAPD – especially when the male
brutality and state violence many police officers in L.A. are guilty of is
equal to the male brutality and state violence which has cost countless Black
and Latina transsexual or transgender women their lives.

The way the
LAPD seeks to use our dead as an opportunity to clean up their public image is
not only unethical – it is an act of violence due to the pain it’s inflicting
on so many who have lost loved ones due to both police brutality or transphobic
hate crimes.Being an
"ally" does not mean distastefully hijacking a funeral of which
you're not invited - it means asking the community what THEY want and need and
act accordingly

What
actually would make sense would be if the LAPD did a march to honor all the
unarmed women and men killed by law enforcement, not only would this be a way to
show the residents of Los Angeles their compassion for the loss of human life
at the hands of police officers – it wouldn’t be infringing on an already
established ritual of mourning without the stakeholder’s (the local trans
community and the families of deceased trans women) consent.

Is it too much to ask that the LAPD not use
the loved ones we have as props in some
disingenuous political campaign?

Monday, July 20, 2015

Today, July 20th, is the 8 year anniversary of the
needless death of a 23 year old Latina woman of transsexual history named Victoria
Arellano that occurred in 2007 at an immigration detention facility in San
Pedro, California following weeks of sadistic neglect, transphobic male
violence and torture.

First, although she was obviously a woman, the bigoted ICE
officers inappropriately detained her in a male facility, even while knowing the
inevitable danger this misplacement would subject Victoria (or any trans* woman)
to - such as verbal abuse, trauma caused by misgendering, physical harassment
and/or sexual assault. It became terrifyingly transparent that ICE employees felt above honoring human rights protections for inmates, and targeting Victoria or any trans* woman with trans-misogynistic violence was just business as usual.

Shortly after arriving she had disclosed to the center of
her HIV health status and informed them of her specific prescription medicine (of
which her life span was critically dependent on).

ICE officers responded to Victoria’s request for medicine by
denying her access (even after learning it was lifesaving treatment) and confined
her to a cold cell: …alone, scared about
her now unsupported health condition, experiencing both physical and emotional agony,
stripped (yet permanently innate) of her womanhood and humanity by the violent state
that had undemocratically staged a trial, verdict and execution by two immigration her, and fears of never seeing her family and
loved ones...

For two whole months there were numerous opportunities for
the immigration [concentration] camp to behave with human decency, but instead
chose to enforce an informal ‘death sentence’ on an innocent young woman. It
didn’t matter when Victoria cried out in excruciating pain, or after she
visually shrunk in weight and energy, or even if she humbly knelt on the
concrete to pleadingly implore her captors towards compassion – absolutely nothing
would inspire those soulless henchmen to allow Victoria her cure, therefore forcibly
placing her life at the mercy of the state – which in essence then sanctioned
her unwarranted death, dare one say murder?

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Don't you Just love it when the Justice Department stands for Justice?!

Today, Thursday, Dec. 18th, Attorney General Eric Holder released a memo addressed to US attorneys and heads of department components. In this statement he affirmed that transsexual, transgender and gender non-conforming Americans are rightfully protected from sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Holder's statement:

“I have determined that the best reading of Title VII’s prohibition of sex discrimination is that it encompasses discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status. This important shift will ensure that the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are extended to those who suffer discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status. This will help to foster fair and consistent treatment for all claimants. And it reaffirms the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans.”